1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle cowling and a process for producing a vehicle cowling. The cowling is adapted to fit between the windshield and hood of a vehicle. The cowling includes a thermoplastic body made of a generally rigid or hard thermoplastic material and an integral seal made of a relatively soft thermoplastic material. The seal is adapted to provide an interface between the cowling and a vehicle windshield.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automatic cowlings are provided between the hood and windshield of an automobile to "trim out" the area between the hood and the windshield. The cowling typically comprises a rigid body and a seal secured along an edge of the rigid body. The rigid body forms a part of the automobile engine compartment cover and suppresses noise from the engine. The seal provides an interface between the cowling and the lower edge of the automobile windshield.
In the past, cowlings have been made by injection molding a rigid thermoplastic body from filled thermoplastics such as polypropylene and attaching a seal which has been extruded from a rubber polymer or a soft plastic such as polyvinyl chloride. The seal has been manually (sometimes mechanically) adhesively secured, typically with a double-sided adhesive, to a rear edge (the edge closest to the windshield) of the rigid thermoplastic body.
Because the seal is typically manually adhesively secured to the rigid body, the process for making the cowling is labor intensive. Further, adhesion between the rigid body and the seal has not proved to be optimal. It is therefore desirable to reduce the labor costs and improve the adhesion of the two-part cowling.